Berlin Q or Bust: Road to sub 2:45

MrMacPhisto wrote: »

This is a very positive development I think. Trust is a nice gift to receive.

By helping another athlete out it encourages a period of reflection on training (both the student and the master's training). After all, a good educator should practice what he preaches

Best of luck with the next block of training

Yeah it should be an interesting experience! He's more seasoned runner than me, but not great at following a plan. I gave him the caveat of getting monkeys since he was paying peanuts, but he's still happy to proceed

Mon: 10 Miles Easy: 1:18:03 @4:51/km

Headed out and got a few miles in along the canal on a gorgeous Bank Holiday Monday evening with a buddy.

Tue: 9 Miles Easy: 1:10:44 @4:49/km

School was closed so got a few easy miles in after dropping my two lads off to school. Breezy out, but decent conditions made it enjoyable.

Wed: Session: 9 Miles inc 30min controlled tempo @5:57/mile

Realising now that I posted in the log on Wednesday....

Thu: 11.6k: 58:22 @5:02/km

Late enough ramble about the bog. Was gonna knock it on the head until my buddy texted me to go for a canter...

Fri:
AM: 8.6k: 43:18 @5:02/km
PM: 6 Miles: 49:19 @5:06/km

Easy double.

Sat: 17 Miles Relaxed: 1:54:49 @4:12/km

With the temperature forecast to rise on Sunday I brought this forward a day as I felt decent after the previous day's easy double. '16 Miles Relaxed @6:50-55' was written on the plan. I include this caveat to assuage AMK's feelings of inadequacy/libellous words on Strava. The coach provides the descriptions and I run the sessions Whereas the 30 mins @5:57 on Wednesday was not very 'Controlled', these 16...sorry, 17 Miles (I miscalculated the route) were actually relaxed! It was just one of those runs where everything seemed to be in sync. Ran the reverse of one of my regular routes and it was definitely a tougher version with a couple of nasty drags that I'd usually be going the opposite direction on.
4:15/km is ingrained in my pysche from my days chasing sub 3 and whilst I'm (hopefully) currently in the process of leaving that pace firmly in my slipstream, it still gives me a huge kick/confidence boost to bang out at LR at this sort of clip.

Sun: 10k: 50:31 @5:03/km

Squeezed this in late afternoon before I fired up the BBQ.

A good week. 113k in total.

Have asked the boss to start marathon block tomorrow. An extra week won't do me any harm.

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

That’s a great 17 miler. Well done.

Also like how you said the school was closed but you still dropped your kids to school to get easy miles in, don’t think my missus would be best pleased if I tried that on school break

What marathon you aiming for now (I can’t keep up )

TbL

I should have clarified that my school was closed, but my kid's wasn't. My wife was at work so I was kind of obliged to drop them off I suppose

I am aiming for Amsterdam/Manchester/Dublin in that order. All within 3 weeks of each other, entries for all three, hotels booked for both overseas trips. Amsterdam is the preference, Manchester the most likely to go ahead close to capacity, but I'd run any version of DCM they put in place either. I just need to get on a start line...any start line.

skyblue46 wrote: »

I'll see you in Amsterdam

Please God Seán.

skyblue46 wrote: »

I think its most likely. I really can't see Dublin happening.

Hopefully. I'm fairly certain that one of Manchester/Amsterdam will go ahead...but with the uncertainty of vaccine passports/pcr tests etc still lingering, it would be nice to have DCM as a back up option.

Just as well my coach knows a lot better than me about making plans. June is generally my most mental month workwise, and this week has basically been June on steroids A few bits came together in a glorious symphony early in the week, capped off by an Incidental inspection in one of the two schools I'm currently at the helm of. This resulted in Tue & Wed being nixed. Hust as well that my instructions were to 'enjoy running over the next couple of weeks' and to 'do nothing mental, just keep ticking over'. I complied...

Mon: 14k Easy: 1:09:48 @4:59/km

Tue & Wed: Zilch

Thu:
AM: 9k Easy: 44:39 @4:57/km
PM: 7 Miles Easy: 57:41 @5:05/km

Fri:
AM: 7.2k Easy: 35:52 @4:57/km
PM: 9.1k Easy: 42:15 @4:38/km

Sat: 28k: 2:02:02 @4:21/km

Helped out my mate who's training plan I'm looking after with his first LR of the block. 4/3/2/1 Miles off 4/3/2/1 mins recovery. Averaged 6:45 for the MP sections. He was pretty strong out there but neither of us hydrated particularly well on a very warm afternoon. I told him to knock it on the head at 25k and I ran back to the car to go back and get him. All part of the service

Felt really comfortable out there and this feeling was only enhanced by the fact I enjoy pacing/helping out mates.

Will have a goo at the Thoroughbred HM in the morning. It's a little like Electric Picnic in the sense that it always comes around at a really terrible time of the work year for me so I'll probably never do it, even though it's on my doorstep.

It's a good job that someone else had the wisdom to delay the start of the marathon block...

Sun: 68 mins Easy @4:47/km

Watch died during this run, was out the door at 2:18 and back just in time to watch the Banner grab a rare Munster championship win. Also had 10 cans of Rascals Yankee IPA. A great Sunday.

Mon & Tue: Nowt. With the school amalgamation ongoing, these were the two days where we moved the boy's school into the girl's school building. Nothing more to add except that these were the two most draining days of my entire existence That seems a bit dramatic I know, but they really were.

Wed: My mojo/shakras/general vibes were not great. Hadn't ran in two days and as a result all fitness was pretty much lost. Sent up to bed after dinner and promptly slept for a couple of hours, after which I got in...

13.9k: 1:06:54 @4:50/km

Felt better.

Thu: 9 Miles Easy: 1:07:50 @4:40/km

Out in the midday sun for this one. Pace a little steadier for an easy run, but I've done nothing for nearly two weeks now, so the system is itching for some stimulus I think.

Mate is doing 16 Miles @6:25 on Sunday, will see how I'm feeling the next couple of days and might tag along with him. Would be a nice effort to lead into the block.

Manchester Marathon Week 1 of 13:

As of yesterday, I've decided to go all-in on Manchester. Less variables than Amsterdam all things considered, so it's all systems go and all appendages crossed.

The general plan for the first 4 weeks is decent mileage, mid week session, steady MLR and a LR session. Nothing crazy in there, just solid sessions, building on current strength and endurance levels (he says).

Mon: 8 Miles Recovery: 1:06:44 @5:11/km

Hungover shuffle. Last one for the foreseeable future.

Tue: 13.5k Easy: 1:06:52 @4:57/km

Solo shuffle around the bog.

Wed: Session: 8x1 Mile @5:50 off 2 mins.

Actual: 5:41, 5:43, 5:40, 5:38, 5:41, 5:40, 5:41, 5:39

Okay, these were clearly on the quick side, but in my defence I hadn't done a hard session for a while, it was the first session of the block and, im hindsight, part of me wanted to drive home the shape I figured I was in. No excuses really though. Will try not to repeat.

Total: 20.4k: 1:28:13 @4:20/km

Thu: MLR: 12 Miles: 1:19:33 @6:38/mile

Plan called for 14 miles@6:45 but a trip down to the Rock of Dunamase with my 3 kids that morning, ended up on the side of the M7 on the way home with the car's clutch a goner. Got the kid's collected, waited about an hour for AA to tow car. Truck came but couldn't take me due to Covid-19 restrictions, so had to ring the Da to collect me. FML....

Anyway, got out in the early evening and said I'd see how the run panned out. With each passing mile I was feeling better but towards the end I was feeling a little under fuelled so I capped it at 12 Miles.

Fri: 12k Recovery: 1:05:00 @5:25/km

One foot in front of the other.

Sat: 7 Miles Easy: 57:00 @5:03/km

Out early before a day out with the gang.

Sun: 20 Miles: 2:10:55 @6:32/mile

Plan was to start out at 6:45's and work my way into the run, aiming to average about 6:35 for the run. I've made the decision that at least 50%, but probably more, of my LR's ate not going to be on the Lidl Loop or the Curragh Camp loop. The camp in particular provides a bit of a false economy for a LR, and I'm actively seeking out challenging, lumpy routes like this one.

Really enjoyed the run. The route took in Donnelly's Hollow, Sunnyhill, Martinstown, Sheeshoon Stud and more on a beautiful day for it. Felt really good.

Total: 122k for the week.

I've certainly never started a block in as good a shape as I'm in atm. I feel that I can make a lot of gains and improvements over the next few weeks too. Let's do this :) 

Manchester Marathon Week 2 of 14

Mon: 14.6k Recovery: 1:15:45 @5:11/km

Few nice miles with a mate just having the chats.

Tue: 7 Miles Easy: 57:04 @5:04/km

Strava tells me this was around the Camp and the Plains. Have no real recollection of it apart from feeling a lot fresher by the end of the run, but it served it's purpose.

Wed: Session: 3x3 Miles @6:15

Took to an absolutely sweltering bog loop (or so I thought at the time, now I would describe it as merely roasting) for this one. I've banged on about the bog loop enough over the last couple of years, but as 5k loops go, it really has got everything. Apart from wider roads that is, but outside of the odd bit of farm traffic one is usually safe enough.

Anyway, found this a bit of an effort in the heat. Hit the assigned splits, but there was a bit of gurning going on by the the time the last mile came about. The prospect of 26.2miles at that pace seemed a bit of a stretch that day.

18:35, 18:38, 18:40 for the three efforts. 21.2k all in all.

Thu: Easy Double:

AM: 8.5k: 45:30 @5:21/km

Out at 5:30am for this one. Still hot.

PM: 8.3k: 41:47 @5:02/km

Still hot.

Fri: MLR: 14 Miles: 1:37:02 @4:18/km

Came up with a 7 mile loop that took in most of the bog but also saw me come back into town by the train station before coming back to start the loop again. Plan called for 6:45 pace, but with conditions the way they were it was decided 6:55 pace would suffice. Felt pretty decent on this one.

Sat: Easy Double

AM: 10k: 50:20 @5:02/km

PM: 10k: 51:00 @5:06/km

Mrs Healy 1835 was at a wedding so managed to get first one in early, and recruit Grandad Healy 1835 to come up in the evening for an hour. Sunday was a rest day as I was bringing the two lads to Croke Park for the Kildare game and was already cashing in a lot of childminding chips to get Erin Healy minded. I figured heading out for 2+ hrs on a LR in the morning wasn't really a runner :)

Sun: Rest

Mon: LR: 30k inc 25k@4:06/km

Had to collect my dad in Shelbyville that morning, so after dropping my young lady to creche, i headed for Naas and cranked this on out early doors. Nice route which took in the canal and the ring road. 

About 5 miles to the loop, heading out or the second loop, I took on a drink of water and packed a facemask into the pocket of those magic Adidas trail shorts I was waxing lyrical about a while back. I had some business I needed to take care of you see, and I was fairly sure there were toilets I could use in an Applegreen on the ring road. If not then the facemask could still some in, ahem, useful.

Applegreen panned out thank goodness, and honestly, about 20k into the run, I'd decided that this was the best I'd ever felt at that pace. Considering the heat as well, this put me in a great humour.

Alas this was as good as the week would get.

Weekly Total (7 days running anyway): 136.6k

Tue + Wed: Zilch. Nada.

Got 2nd jab on Monday afternoon. Woke up feeling okay Tuesday but went quickly downhill and was shattered by dinner time. Straight to bed at 7pm the last 2 evenings. Feeling human today so hoping to get out tonight for a run. Scrapped session & MLR obviously, but hope to get LR session in Sunday. Usual shite going on here; feeling like I've lost all fitness etc. 

Hey Jebuz.... As the title of the log shows, my target for Manchester is not a secret ;) My mate who looks after the plan reckons I should be in a bit better shape come October....but, after 2 years of no marathons, I don't forsee myself getting greedy tbh. That talk is for another day though.

Have always ran in kms, although more recently I've set my auto lap to miles but the pace is still in kms. I might join the big boys in the Miles club someday...

Hey Sean. Jab was Pfizer. Was grand after the first one but that wasn't the case this time out. Seem to be okay now, LR session Sunday might tell a tale....

Yeah the touch site isn't blowing the socks off me. How's your comeback coming along? Not logging too many runs on Strava...